LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Brexton Busch was just a preschooler when his dad tossed him in the air in victory lane at Pocono.
Kyle Busch is ready to toss Brexton the keys — OK, fine, NASCAR vehicles don’t use keys — to his truck at Kyle Busch Motorsports and have his son replace him behind the wheel.
It just might take a few years.
What You Need To Know
- Kyle Busch has a plan for his young son to replace him one day in a NASCAR
- The 38-year-old Busch and wife Samantha are parents to 8-year-old Brexton
- Brexton already has started driving in dirt races and in other racing disciplines across the country
- Busch wants to share a NASCAR Truck Series ride once Brexton turns 16
- When Brexton turns 18, Busch would let his son have the full-time ride and said he would retire from NASCAR
The 38-year-old Busch mapped out a succession plan that started with his retirement from the elite Cup Series when Brexton is 15 years old and ends with his son taking the full-time ride in Trucks once dad completely calls it quits from NASCAR.
Busch, though, is still in his prime and proved it again Saturday at Pocono.
He passed Shane Heim on the last lap and won the Truck Series at Pocono Raceway. It marked the 100th career win for KBM, Busch’s 64th win in Trucks, and extended his record of 229 victories across the three major NASCAR series.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch drives the track during qualifying for the Grant Park 220 NASCAR Cup Series Race Saturday, July 1, 2023, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
“We needed this 100th win to get it over with,” Busch said. “It’s a monumental day. It’s a century mark of being able to win 100 races. We’re just a small team. We found a home here in the Trucks.”
Brexton is just 8 years old and has carried on the family racing tradition — dad is a two-time Cup champion; uncle Kurt won the 2004 championship — and he already won races in various disciplines around the country.
Kyle’s plan goes like this: Brexton is allowed at age 15 per NASCAR rules to run Trucks races at tracks 1 1/2 miles and shorter and at road courses. Busch & Son would share a ride until Brexton turns 18 and can race the full slate.
Oh, and there’s this wrinkle. Busch, in his first season driving for Richard Childress Motorsports, would quit Cup once Brexton is 15 and try to win a Truck championship. It’s the one NASCAR title that has eluded him — he also was the second-tier Xfinity Series champ in 2009. He’d split the Trucks ride at KBM once Brexton turns 16 and Busch would retire by 50.
“It’s kind of been an idea of mine, but it’s not necessarily why KBM is still going,” Busch said at Pocono. “We obviously give back to the sport doing that and (with) all the drivers that have kind of come through there over the years. We’d like to continue to give back … as I get closer to hanging it up, and then obviously turning it over to Brex.”
Brexton was 5 when he began his racing career in 2020. He competed in the Beginner Box Stock Division at Millbridge Speedway, a 1/6-mile dirt track in Salisbury, North Carolina, and Mountain Creek Speedway, a 1/6-mile dirt track in Catawba, North Carolina. Just a month into his career, Brexton recorded his first win at Mountain Creek.
Busch, who discussed the idea this week on the “Cars & Culture with Jason Stein” podcast, founded his KBM Trucks team in 2010 and has won championships with drivers Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).